Without question, 2014 was the best year yet for Don’t Blink. Readership was at an all-time high and, in my opinion, the content was at its peak as well. Throughout the course of the year I wrote 253 blog posts. When you write that many posts over 12 months it is difficult to pull out the top two percent. But that is just what I did this morning.

Earlier today I went back through my work and scribbled down on a piece of paper the posts that I liked the most. I then took that piece of paper and narrowed it down further by selecting the ten that I would go back and read first if given a complete 2014 volume of Don’t Blink. In today’s blog post I give you my top ten posts of 2014. This list is presented in chronological order.

Sitting Down with Bryden from “The Bachelorette” (January 8): I stared off 2014 by sitting down with my friend, Bryden Vukasin. The name to some might not stand out but if you put it in context with the wildly popular television show “The Bachelorette,” you will grab the attention of legions of diehard fans. I was incredibly thankful to Bryden for answering every question I asked about his time on the reality show. What resulted was an honest and behind-the-scenes look at his experience on “The Bachelorette.” I learned so much about the reality show business and was happy to pass it on to my readers.

Bryden was nice enough to sit down with me and answer all my questions.

Insanely Long Hair (February 13): I turned a lot of heads when I published this blog post about the hairstyle I sported my junior year in high school. People to this day still ask me if it was real. This post was so much fun to write as I knew once I hit “publish” I would get a crazy reaction.

Many people don’t even recognize me with this hair!

My Fortune Cookie Experiment, Part II (March 16): I give myself an A+ for effort on this blog post. Because I am weird and because I have nothing better to do, I visited four Chinese restaurants in the Missoula area and retrieved fortune cookies from them all. I then came home, opened them up, and compared the fortunes. The results were great!

In 2014, I had a lot of fun with fortune cookies.

To Everyone at Grizzly Athletics: THANK YOU (April 16): After my last day working at Grizzly Athletics I wrote a heartfelt thank you post to everyone (past and present) in the department. I was able to recognize individuals who played key roles in my development as a professional. I took a lot of time to make sure this post was crafted in the most meaningful way possible as I owe everyone in Missoula so much. This one came from the heart. A week before this post, I wrote one describing my top ten moments working for the Griz, another one of my favorites from 2014.

I needed to thank a lot of people (including Monte) for helping me out so much while working at Grizzly Athletics.

Not Your Typical Rags to Riches Story (June 26): Throughout the year I wrote many features on well-deserving people. I think my favorite one though was the post I did on my good friend, Kenny Dow. Inspired by the piece a national website did on his decision to come out as gay while working in the very heterosexual-driven industry of athletics, I decided to add my own personal touch to it. Many of you might be interested to know that Kenny and his boyfriend, Steve, are now engaged.

Kenny and I on the sidelines in Clemson’s Memorial Stadium in October of 2014.

Celebrating Accents (June 24): This made the list because it is my girlfriend’s all-time favorite post I have written and means a lot to her…I also like it too. When I moved to Myrtle Beach, a melting pot of American cultures in the South, I was exposed to many different accents. In my post I wrote about the need to celebrate all of these unique ways of sounding rather than to poke fun at them or discount them. Now, several months removed from writing this, I don’t really even hear accents all that much anymore because I am so accustomed to them.

My “Celebrating Accents” post was Sidney’s favorite.

Family Text Messaging (August 6): This particular post made it into my “Best of 2014” just because it was fun to write and so many of you can relate. In this post I described how our family utilizes group text messaging and the joy, conveniences, and frustrations it can cause. If you do this with your family, I guarantee you will smile while reading it.

Making the Cut: My Cameo in Darius Rucker’s Music Video (September 29): In my 2014 recap post from yesterday, I attributed my cameo in a Darius Rucker music video as a fun highlight from the year. With that said, it makes sense that my blog post detailing my excitement when I saw the video for the first time is on this list. It was a thrilling day in the office and at Coastal Carolina University in general when Rucker’s crew released the video that took place mostly on our campus. Seeing my goofy mug right next to the “Homegrown Honey” star himself made the day that much better.

I made the cut in Darius Rucker’s “Homegrown Honey” video.

A Birthday Tradition at Work (October 8): I am blessed to work in such a fun and caring office. One example of this is evident by the custom made cards our graphics department creates for us on our birthdays. This tradition is so cool and so unique that I had to blog about it after I received mine in October. I was able to show off some of these stellar cards while also explaining the funny way in which they are presented. By writing this blog post I knew I caught the envy of many people who wish they worked in an environment as awesome as the one I do.

This was the inside of the card I received on my birthday.

You Want Me to Put WHAT in My Car?! (October 29): Although not very happy when writing this, I can look back now and chuckle a little bit. When my car light went on I took it to a mechanic who gave me some unconventional advice…pour Everclear in my gas tank. He took my money and I took his advice but he was the only one who benefitted from the deal. My car light remained on. Looking back on this I shake my head at the absurdity of his remedy while also smiling at the “you got to be kidding me!!” responses I received from my readers.

This did not work out.

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Did you have a favorite blog post that I wrote in 2014? If so, I would love for you to tell me. As I said yesterday, thanks to all my readers for the great support of Don’t Blink. I can’t wait to compose blog posts in 2015 that will make the future edition of this list. Don’t Blink.